Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Amazon has Acquired Touchco - A Multi-Touch Company
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Well, I can see the technology development of new displays will cut-down the advantage of eInk. Strategically, it is not wise for Amazon to pouring money into developing its own hardware. Kindle only allows reading book sold by Amazon but iPad is a fairly open platform, The eInk advantage has to be really substantial to pull buyers from iPad.
Video-capable color electronic ink screens will be in production as soon as this year.
I have the Sony E-Reader. And I have read 5 or 6 books on it. Like the Kindle it has an e-Ink display.
And I really wish I had not bothered buying it now.
e-Ink is fine if you want to sequentially read a novel. Because the 2second page-turns are just about tolerable. But if you want to flip through a text book - and hop around - the sluggishness of the display technology is a pain in the ass.
Paper books also have good typography which is incredibly important when reading at speed.
Compare
The Kindle
A real book
And the iPad
The iPad image is a bad photograph, but to my eyes - it looks like the iPad is doing a much better job of matching professional-quality typesetting than the layouts on the Kindle.
C.
Maybe, but ePub is a richer format than .azw. ePub allows for embedded multi-media. Plus for technical books the iPad will have color diagrams, pics, etc. At the same price point the Kindle book doesn't look so compelling for purchase on an iPad.
Egos
We are talking country club bragging rights on this one. Get a bag of popcorn, sit back and enjoy the show.
We are talking country club bragging rights on this one. Get a bag of popcorn, sit back and enjoy the show.
Resistive technology shouldn't even be called touch. Its press. Resistive tech is fine if you wish to use a stylus but is incredibly poor and ultimately frustrating to use with your finger. This is still the case with the newer panels used in modern mobile handsets.
I have the Sony E-Reader. And I have read 5 or 6 books on it. Like the Kindle it has an e-Ink display.
And I really wish I had not bothered buying it now.
e-Ink is fine if you want to sequentially read a novel. Because the 2second page-turns are just about tolerable. But if you want to flip through a text book - and hop around - the sluggishness of the display technology is a pain in the ass.
Paper books also have good typography which is incredibly important when reading at speed.
Compare
The Kindle
A real book
And the iPad
The iPad image is a bad photograph, but to my eyes - it looks like the iPad is doing a much better job of matching professional-quality typesetting than the layouts on the Kindle.
C.
Agreed.
Amazon has marketed e-ink very well and I say kudos to them for it. They have actually convinced the drones that it is impossible to read text unless it is on e-ink. (even though most of us have been reading text on regular screens since the early 80s) Makes me wonder how these drones can post in this thread its not on e-ink you know.
Hey, e-ink is great stuff but the REAL strength behind it is that battery usage only occurs when shopping and downloading books; and during reading when one turns a page. This accounts for the Kindles incredible battery life.
These comments make no sense at all. Didn't apple enter the "Mp3 player"- and Phone market?? Have they been "active" there before? Was there a mp3 player from apple before the ipod.. a phone before the iphone.... ??
Moreover, how does the kindle compete with the ipad? They server different needs/niches.. the kindle is an e-reader, the ipad is not. (reading on an e-ink screen for a couple of hours (+3), no problem.. reading on a i-X for a couple of hours.. PITA... you're getting tired... it doesn't matter if we're already reading/looking at "normal" screens for years... they aren't the optimal solution for reading... e-ink is more like reading a book than LED, X is..)
( I don't want to discuss e-ink vs. LED/OLED/whatever at this point)
If they want to IMPROVE AN EXISTING product, how do they NOT stick to their shopping business.??? the kindle boost their "bookshop-sales" just as the iphone/touch/ipad boosts apples iTunesstore-sales...
Why shouldn't amazon try to improve their product by any means possible?
fanboyism at its best...
I don't think it's fanbotism at all.
The point is a Kindle IS NOT going to replace one of these new tablets but the tablets could replace the Kindle. Every darn computer manufacturer is coming out with a tablet and every one of those is touting an eBook reader. Amazon wont just be competing with the iPad, they will be competing with the entire computer industry.
Their only hope is to go cheap. Make the next Kindle super cheap like the netbook of eReaders. This would help them like paperbacks helped the publishing industry.
Amazon is making a classic business error. Their core competence is online retail. "Downloadable books" is a good extension of that. "eBook readers " is not. Introducing Kindle may have been a necessary evil to spark the "downloadable books" business. But they really do not want to continue in the business of designing and supplying their own hard gadgets. Amazon does not have ANY other own-branded stuff let along proprietary electronic devices. Trying to keep up with Apple will be a huge distraction from their main business. I recommend buying Barnes and Noble stock.
nonsense.. The iPad might be better suited to display multimedia content, but the Kindle is not in any way superior for reading books. The possibilities of LCD for books, newspapers and magazines makes it a very powerful competitor for the Kindle. At a similar pricepoint, the iPad with it's much more extensive usability compared to the iPad will make it for many people a very appealing alternative.
Why? Give me a very good reason why a physician would want to carry a kindle in stead of an iPad with dedicated apps and color support? Have you ever worked in science or medicine? Last time I looked (and I'm a scientist), we rely for many applications on graphs and colorful pictures. Especially in biomedicine we work a lot with fluorescent markers etc. That's why a lot of periodicals have switched to color printing, because black and white didn't cut it anymore.
The Kindle is even more targeted at content consumption, so while you are comparing please do it consistently.. In addition there are many e-book stores that provide content that can be used on the iPad (Jobs presented that the iBook application will use the e-pub standard), so you are not bound to iTunes at all.. In addition the Kindle books are DRM-ed up the ***.
And last but definitely not least: the LCD tech opens up the door to video content within e-magazines and newspapers (see the NYT demo in the keynote) and color options within textbooks. This is simply not possible on the Kindle or any e-ink based reader even IF they would be color e-ink readers.
From what I've read on the Internet, the Kindle's hardware was upgraded 2 times last year. Almost every company that puts out hardware updates their product, why isn't anyone considering that here?
I am a typographer and a type designer. There are a ton of books with poor typography, as in poor typeface (font) selections, leading (linespacing), line length, and font size. I don't know what adjustments you can make with your Sony eReader, but with the Kindle, you can adjust the size, linespacing, and margin spacing. More importantly, Amazon uses PMN Caecilia, which is an excellent, highly legible typeface that is crucial for readability.
The iPad offers a few font selections, and the screenshot you've shown is Palatino, which is not an excellent choice for readability; however, it is better than the other options of Times New Roman and Cochin. The best option on the iPad would be Verdana, which was designed for on-screen reading as the iPad is not e-ink based. You can make the claim that Palatino mimics a paperback book more closely than the Kindle does, but that doesn't make the iPad more readable when you consider the type options and backlit screen. Also, just because a book was typeset in a serif font doesn't mean it was crafted by a professional. Legibility of the typeface is a huge consideration, and Amazon did a great job of picking a single strong typeface that works in multiple sizes.
As for a typeset paperback book, it's a hit or miss depending on the skill of the typographer. You cannot make adjustments that give you the optimal comfort of reading when the type is fixed to the pages, and this is where eReaders have an advantage.
As for readability, the Kindle gets the nod.
The thing is, they may be able to avoid DIRECT competition for a bit, but not for long. Direct alienation is absolutely inevitable. Single purpose devices WILL NOT LAST!
As far as e-ink goes, yes you would think it would be wise for them to stay in their niche since it is differentiated a bit, but they can't! Apple is putting them in a VERY DIFFICULT spot. They know single purpose devices will not last, that is why they have announced an SDK for apps. Slight problem though..........APPS WILL SUUUUUUCK ON E-INK! So just from that step their hardware is going to have to change drastically. I can't even think of one worthwhile app that would even function on an e-ink screen!
My guess is they will try to do some type of new tech for the screen. Maybe PixelQi. But again, in doing this they will be creating their own demise. Pretty ironic. There is NO WAY Amazon and the Kindle can compete with Apple, iTunes, iPad, iPhone OS, and the ecosystem PERIOD!
The second Amazon announced revenue changes to copy Apple's and an SDK for apps before the iPad unveiling, it signaled the beginning of the end!
In 1998 PCs were reaching sales of 100 million units per year. Apple was selling below 3 million in 1998.
Saying Apple was, and continues to be in part, a niche company, doesn't means they are wrong or that they have negative numbers. It just means they create products for a specialized part of the community, and that they profit from it. Certainly, this is changing quickly for Apple, but they started as a niche company. Just as the Kindle is starting.
He said the same in 1997, when he was back in Apple.
Really?
In that light, if Apple is ever to fall, nobody saves them. In the other hand, if Microsoft gets in trouble, all governments around the world will help them. I see no point in your post.
Quoted for truth.
Even more, replace "had" with "has". Being a niche company isn't bad, BTW.
------------
Amazon has a huge revenue to fund research and improvements for the Kindle. And they also have many things to compete against the iPad. I mean, they already have a HUGE e-bookstore, and a working music store. They also have a video-on-deman service. And they are starting to create their own app store. If they are able to make a working tablet, or improved Kindle, I don't see why they can't compete with Apple.
Eventually someone will come with a better idea. Eventually another Steve Jobs would appear who makes something different. And I really see potential in Amazon.
Also, Apple needed more than two and a half years to reach the 2 million iPods mark. The same as the Kindle. So quit it with the saying that the Kindle is not having its success. Every product needs its time to evolve, and from what I'm seeing, Amazon is making a good job.
My biggest complaint with e-ink is performance.
And given that I spend 8 hours a day reading from a backlit LCD screen, I don't buy the "eye-strain" argument.
But in terms of appraising readability, it would be good to compare these devices side by side.
C.
Quoted for truth.
Even more, replace "had" with "has". Being a niche company isn't bad, BTW.
Ha, ha. I originally put has, but since the guy seemed to be in denial about the whole niche thing, I decided to put had, to avoid any possible argument from him.
I am happy to see Amazon is still working hard to improve the Kindle.
They are in a competitive market. If you take a look at the number of e-book readers that have sprouted at CES, it is clear that they have to continue to distinguish themselves from the competition.
While the iPad does pose a threat, the portability of the Kindle (non DX) and it's e-ink technology makes it more attractive option for those who want to read first and foremost.
I received one for Xmas and I have been very happy with it. Amazon will continue to sell well. To assume every effort to enhance the product is due to Apple's entrance is misleading
They are in a competitive market. If you take a look at the number of e-book readers that have sprouted at CES, it is clear that they have to continue to distinguish themselves from the competition.
While the iPad does pose a threat, the portability of the Kindle (non DX) and it's e-ink technology makes it more attractive option for those who want to read first and foremost.
I received one for Xmas and I have been very happy with it. Amazon will continue to sell well. To assume every effort to enhance the product is due to Apple's entrance is misleading
The whole point of e-ink, at least with the Kindle, is to make it as comfortable as reading on paper. I don't care about performance as long as I can enjoy my books, and that's the reason I bought a Kindle to complement my other Apple devices.
I spend 10+ hours a day reading from a backlit LCD screen, and it really is a breath of fresh air to read a book (paperback or Kindle) without backlighting. For some it might not make a difference, but there are a ton of Kindle users that appreciate this.
As for readability, that's difficult to measure as individuals become used to reading something, but legibility among other factors that I've listed do make up an important aspect of readability.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who was completely baffled by this user's posts.
Then you probably shouldn't be thrilled that Amazon is going to screw that up by adding a sheet of plastic on top (even if it's "clear" it will affect optics) in a misguided attempt to compete with iPad.